Cops: 5-year-old boy was tied to motorcycle with twine

EATONTOWN – A New York motorcyclist was arrested on several charges after police in Monmouth County noticed a young boy was tied to his bike with twine, authorities said.

Frank Albanese, 53 of Staten Island, N.Y., was operating a motorcycle with a 5-year-old boy from Perth Amboy seated behind him around 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Officer Ryan Braswell was on duty when he noticed the child had twine tied around his foot and around his waist. He also said the boy was wearing a helmet that appeared to be much too big for him and was moving around on his head.

As Braswell turned around to stop the motorcycle, it pulled into a convenience store parking lot. Albanese had entered the store, leaving the child on the back of the motorcycle, police said.

Braswell approached the child and realized the boy’s feet were tied to the rear passenger pegs of the motorcycle and twine also was wrapped around his waist, securing him to the rear seat of the motorcycle.

As Braswell was examining the cycle, a woman sitting in a pickup truck next to the motorcycle approached the officer and told him she was the boy’s mother and Albanese’s girlfriend. She said she had given permission for her son to ride back to Staten Island with Albanese, police said. She was following in the pickup truck.

Braswell asked the mother to free her child, and it took her about four to five minutes to untie the twine and remove the boy from the motorcycle, according to police.

Braswell found Albanese had several outstanding warrants for his arrest. Police also said the helmets Albanese and the child were wearing were not approved for motorcycle use by the state Department of Transportation.

Albanese was detained on the outstanding warrants and also charged with several motor vehicle violations, including failure to wear state-approved helmets, driving with a suspended license and reckless driving.

The child was turned over to his mother at the scene and police notified the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency. Authorities there advised police they will follow up on the incident.